


Raindrops

by PagetPaulson



Category: Castle, Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-21
Packaged: 2018-03-26 16:53:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 16,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3857995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PagetPaulson/pseuds/PagetPaulson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She had moved on, she had had to. But with his kids? She couldn't keep them from him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Comment était ta journée à l'école?"

The dark haired boy looked up to his mother from the orange slices she had given him and puckered his lips. "Good."

"Ah," the mother chasted, her finger wagging in the air as she got her daughter's bag ready. "En Français."

Rolling his eyes when his mother turned her head, the little boy bit into his fruit. "Ma journée a été bonne, maman."

"Oh," she chuckled, her eyes widening and she bent down to share a kiss with the five year old. "Très bon, bébé."

"You're still on this French kick?"

The brunette woman spun around and let the older man press a kiss to her cheek, and she smiled up to him. "Well we do live in France," the mother of two hummed, grinning up to him and letting his lips softly plunder hers. "You all packed?"

"Wish I wasn't." He gently untangled the ends of her hair and sighed. "I'm gonna miss you, Em."

Emily smiled softly to the older man, her hand running up and down the back of his suit jacket. "You could stay," she suggested hopefully, her teeth nibbling into her bottom lip as she gave those puppy dog eyes to the man she loved. "We've talked about it before," the brunette reminded him.

"We have, but Alexis is back in New York."

Emily held in her sigh. "Alexis is in college, Rick."

Richard Castle gave a small shake of the head. "We'll work something out."

She let him kiss her cheek before she watched him walk to the front door. The couple had been together long enough to know that she wasn't able to travel with him back and forth from the airport, and it was time to take the kids to their babysitters. "I love you," Emily called out, cracking her fingers as she watched him grab his umbrella.

"I love you too, Em."

The five year old girl tugged on her mother's skirt, gesturing for the brunette to bend down to her level. "Good, mommy?"

Emily smiled, letting the younger twin pat against her cheek, the movement she and her brother used to wipe away tears. "I'm good, baby. Now come on, ok? We have to get you two to Francine's."

The brunette gathered her kids' crayons and playing cards and shoved them into their backpacks before getting them out the door and into their car.

"La ceinture de sécurité," she reminded the two before pulling away from the curb, her hands tight on the wheel.

Alisanne rolled her eyes from the backseat. "We always have seatbelts, maman."

Emily winked at the little girl in the rearview mirror. "Just gotta remind you, baby girl," she laughed.

"We gonna see daddy, mommy?"

The brown eyed woman swallowed the lump in her throat, keeping her gaze straight out the windshield. "Remember, baby? Daddy is over in America."

"Marcy and I wanna see daddy."

"Daddy's saving people, remember?" Emily asked, her eyes flickering up to the mirror so she could see her babies and their faces. "We'll see daddy soon." She pulled up to the apartment and quickly got the pair out of their car seats, running through the rain and up the steps to be sheltered by the terrace that sat above them on the second floor. "Now, what do we say?"

Marc and Alisanne looked up to their mother. "Bonjour Mme Francine. Tu es magnifique aujourd'hui." _Good morning Ms. Francine. You look beautiful today._

Emily pecked both children on the head and let the older woman take them inside once she opened the door. "Je serai de retour dans quelques heures. Merci, Francine," she called as she ran back down the steps, waving to her twins as they walked inside the house. "Je vais appeler bientôt."

She used her arm to shield herself from the rain before she got into her car, slamming the door shut and shaking her hair to get the raindrops out.

Blaring from her purse in the passenger seat, her phone caused her anxiety to spike, and Emily's hand flew straight to cover her heart. "Dammit," she cursed, shoving her hair behind her ear before picking up her phone. "Bonjour," she stated, not looking at the number that popped onto the screen.

"Emily?"

Her dark eyes widened, her free hand that had grabbed her seat belt letting the metal fly from her hand. "Aaron?"

"Emily, can you hear me?"

The mother of two cursed, quickly buckling herself and zooming away from the curb she had parked beside. "You cannot be calling me," she whispered harshly, her fear reflecting in those big brown eyes as she drove through the streets of Paris. "What are you doing? Do you understand what you're risking by contacting me?"

"Emily, I-"

"Do you not remember what I've been doing out here?" she hissed, looking around the street before turning a corner. "Aaron, what the hell?"

"Emily," his harsh voice interrupted, causing the brunette to grind her teeth. "He's dead."

The former FBI agent's foot hit the brakes hard, her body stiffening at the words. "What?"

"He's dead, Emily. You can come home."

Emily's eyes filled with tears, a car's horn blaring at her from behind causing her to take her foot off the brake. "He's dead?" she whispered, her voice betraying the strength she had worked decades on building. "He's really dead?"

Hotch nodded against his phone, staring out the windows of his office and watching the rain fall. "He's dead."


	2. Chapter 2

Emily skidded her car to a stop, her hand jerking the gearshift into park before jumping out of the vehicle and running up the steps to the apartment she had at first sped away from. "Francine! Se il vous plaît ouvrir la porte!" _Francine! Please open the door!_

The blond woman opened up her door and looked wide eyed to the frantic mother before her. "Madame Caron, pourquoi êtes-vous si tôt? Les enfants mangent." _Ms. Caron, why are you back so soon? The children are eating._

Pushing past her babysitter, Emily called for her children and took their coats from the rack by the door.

"Maman?"

Emily smiled wide to the two dark haired children, the spitting images of their father, and quickly got their coats back on them. "Come on guys, we have to go."

"We just got here, mommy," the brown eyed girl pouted, letting her mother place her hate back on her head of curls. "Madame Francine allait nous laisser jouer avec le nouveau chiot." _Ms. Francine was going to let us play with the new puppy._

Smiling carefully at both children, Emily held onto their hands. "What if mommy got you two a puppy?"

"We can have a puppy?"

The brown eyed woman nodded cheerily, holding her tears back as she rushed them out the door. "Merci, Francine! Merci beaucoup!" _Thank you, Francine! Thank you so much!_

After getting the kids buckled into their car seats, Emily sent a quick text message to her assistant before putting her phone to her ear.

"Richard Castle."

"Rick," the brunette breathed, laughing tearily as she drove away from the curb. "You didn't get on your flight yet."

The older man frowned, stepping off of the line at the gate to get onto his plane as he listened to his girlfriend over the phone. "Sweetheart, is everything alright?"

Emily shook her head, slowing the car down at the stop sign ad smiling against her phone. "What do you think about saving three extra seats?"

Castle frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"He's dead, Rick," the mother of two breathed, smiling at her twins in the mirror. "I can come home."

The author almost dropped his suitcase, ignoring the call from the attendant at his plane's gate. "What? You can come home?"

"I can come home!"

He flung his briefcase over his shoulder and charged back through the airport, grinning maniacally from ear to ear at the security guard who stopped him just before the airport's exit. "My girlfriend's coming home!"

Emily laughed into the phone, turning her steering wheel as she made her way back to the apartment she had called her home. "Think you can meet me back here?"

"I will be there in a half an hour," the author rushed out, regretfully waving off a few fans as he got himself into a cab. "Sweetheart, I love you so much. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Emily bit her lip, letting a tear roll down her cheek as she watched the cars around her drive on by. "I love you too."

Marc held his mother's hand as they walked back into the apartment, his big brown eyes looking up to their housekeeper who went to take their coats. "We're leaving, Clarisse."

The elderly woman frowned, looking to her employer. "Leaving?"

Emily smiled sadly to the woman she had hired all those years ago, and she took her hands in hers. "We're moving."

"Maintenant?" Now?

The brunette's chin trembled and she brought her housekeeper into a gentle hug. "Je ai quelques amis, vous pouvez travailler pour," she smiled, doing her best to give Clarisse some hope. "Je ne voudrais pas vous laisser sans-abri." _I have friends you can work for. I wouldn't leave you homeless._

"I would hope not," laughed the older woman in her thick accent, pressing a kiss to Emily dark hair. "Thank you, Ms. Caron."

"Emily Prentiss," she corrected in a whisper, watching as Clarisse softened her eyes on her. "I'm so sorry."

"Maman!"

Emily wiped a tear from her cheek and met the twins in the kitchen, helping them take down the leftover morning croissants they'd wrapped up after breakfast. "We can have these in the car, ok? The plane will give us dinner."

Marc looked up to his mother. "They feed us?"

"Anything we want," she nodded, laughing as she shared a smile with her kids. "Now come and get your bags, alright?" She had received a text from her assistant saying their favorite outfits were all packed and ready to go, a little note left along with their belongings saying how much she would miss the family. "It's time to go."

Alisanne forced her mother to carry her out the door once Castle was back, everyone piling into the cab and the younger of the two children sitting herself firmly in her mother's lap. "Where are we going, maman?"

Emily pressed a kiss to her daughter's head, her hand grasping her boyfriend's as they drove toward the airport. "We're gonna go see daddy, baby."


	3. Chapter 3

Hotch hurried his way across the catwalk and quickly closed his office door behind him, making sure to immediately pick up his phone and dial his ex wife's number to tell her he'd be late to the baseball game his son was the key shortstop in that afternoon.

"Aaron?"

"Haley," he sighed, shoving together a couple of files to make sure everything was organized. "I'm not getting out of work until six, and I can't take a lunch bream to come to the game. Something important came up and I have to go meet in front of the court in a few hours."

The blond woman fought the roll of her eyes as she glanced down to the diamond ring on her finger. "It doesn't matter," she shrugged, taking the thermometer from her son's mouth. "Jack is home sick from school. Over a hundred temperature and an upset stomach."

Hotch let out a sigh, shaking his head and sitting himself down in his office chair. "Can I talk to him?"

Jack, now twelve years old with a much darker head of hair, took the phone from his mother and settled himself down against the cushions of the couch. "Hey dad."

"Hey bud, what's wrong? Mom's cooking get you sick again?"

Haley frowned at the laughter coming from her son, having heard the joke her ex made over the phone. "Hurry up and then I'm running you a bath."

The almost teenager waited for his mom to leave the room before settling himself on his side, his back facing the rest of the living room. "Sorry, mom's in a mood."

"Be nice to your mother."

"Tell her to be nice to me," the brunette boy groaned. "She's been ridiculous for months, now that she's Mrs. Fields instead of Ms. Brooks."

Hotch nodded, sympathizing with his son and his situation. "I'm sorry, Jack. But you get to come to my house on Saturday. You ready for that?"

"Even if I feel ten times worse, I'm coming over." The seventh grader was repulsed by his mother and her new husband, and he'd give anything to get out of there and visit his dad.

"Well what do you think you have? You were fine yesterday."

Jack nodded. "You talked to me before school. Almost everyone has the flu and I think they gave it to me," he sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "So you're busy today?"

Hotch smiled into his phone, ecstatic to have his son find out that his favorite adult was finally back. "I have a surprise for you, but it's gonna take a little while to get it to you."

"Are you getting me a car?"

The Unit Chief laughed, shuffling the papers on his desk from one end to the other. "You're a good few years away from needing one of those."

"Doesn't mean I don't want one," Jack smiled, his arm wrapping around his stomach to ward off the pain. "So what's the big surprise?"

"I can't tell you yet but why don't I wait until the weekend to give it to you?"

Jack groaned, rolling onto his back and pulling his blanket up around his shoulders. "Come on, dad."

"I promise, it'll be even better if you wait."

"Fine," he huffed, ignoring his mother calling him from the bathroom. "I'll see you this weekend. Love you, dad."

Hotch gave the same sentiment to his son before hanging up his cell phone, leaning back in his chair and forcing himself to take a deep breath and calm down his frantically pumping heart.

Emily was coming home, and he couldn't get his mind off of her.

"So nothing's changed, huh?"

Opening his eyes at the soft voice to his left, the Unit Chief immediately stood from his desk, his eyes wide as they caught the beautiful brunette leaning against his doorway. "Emily," he breathed, moving around his desk. "Oh my God."

Emily's eyes filled with tears, practically sprinting across the office's carpeted floor and letting the older man take her into his strong arms. "Hi Aaron," she sobbed into his neck, wrapping her arms tight around his shoulders.

"I missed you so much."

The brunette squeezed her eyes shut tight, breathing in his scent as her tears stained his shirt. "Thank you," Emily cried, letting him pick her up off the floor and hug her tight to his chest. "Thank you for everything."

Hotch set the younger woman back down and cupped her cheeks with his hands, brushing her hair back behind her ears. "You look exactly the same."

Emily could have laughed. Her hair had grown down to her breasts and her eyes were darker than before, her brows reshaped and her wardrobe completely different, and yet he made a comment like that.

"Still so beautiful."

Emily rolled her lips inward, letting the older man press a long kiss to her cheek. "How did he die?"

He saw the fear in her eyes, and Hotch immediately nodded his head. "He's dead, Emily. He's really dead."

She bit her lip. "Did you do it?"

Looking into those chocolate brown eyes he had fallen in love with when Emily was just eighteen years old, Hotch barely nodded his head.

"Thank you," she breathed, leaning up to press a kiss to his chin. "Thank you."

"Come on," Hotch smiled, turning her around and dragging her toward the door. "Everybody is so thrilled to see you."

"Wait!"

Hotch turned, questioning the younger woman with a look of his eyes.

Emily's teeth raked over her bottom lip, her two hands clutching one of his. "I have to tell you something."

"Can't it wait?" The team had been a bundle of nerves since the night before and he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to hold them off.

Emily gently shook her head, her jet black hair flying from shoulder to shoulder as she dismissed him. "No," she laughed, her eyes stinging as she looked up to the man she had been ready to marry all those years ago. "No, it can't."


	4. Chapter 4

Hotch's hands held tight onto the brunette woman's, his eyes glued to her as he watched the younger woman try to formulate what to say. "Emily, what is it? What's going on?"

She let out a laugh. "I've really missed you," she breathed.

"Emily, what is it? You're scaring me."

Emily paused before shaking her head at him, her fingers dancing along the older man's calloused ones. "I have to tell you something, but I need you to stay calm when I tell you."

His brow furrowed.

"I need you to remember that I wasn't able to contact anyone back home, not even you, and that's why you're only finding out now."

Hotch shook his head. "What is it? Emily, are you sick?"

The ebony haired woman bit so hard into her bottom lip she thought it would bleed. "You remember when we had to say goodbye?" she squeaked, her voice betraying the strength she wanted so badly to portray.

Hearing the wobbling of the beautiful woman's voice, Hotch was forced to avert his eyes from hers. "Of course I do." It was the hardest day of his life.

"When I got to France, I was feeling really sick. I thought it was just because of my anxiety and fright, you know how that's happened to me before. But then I went to the doctor."

"Are you sick?"

Emily looked up to the ceiling and tried to blink her tears away. "I was pregnant.

Hotch's eyes bugged, his hands tightening around the younger woman's. "Pregnant?"

"I'm so sorry," she hiccupped, seeing the confusion in the Unit Chief's eyes. "I couldn't tell you. I would have been risking both of our lives."

"And the baby's."

Emily let out a breath. "Yeah."

Hotch let himself stay quiet for a moment, allowing himself to process the information. "So, did you have it?"

"Them."

He looked up at the correction.

Emily's watering eyes connected with his, and she nodded. "Twins."

Hotch felt his heart stop. He had two other children. "We had twins?"

"Please don't hate me."

Hotch shook his head. "You have them?" he questioned. "You protected them?"

"Of course I did," the brunette mother said defensively, her eyes hard. "They're my babies, Aaron. Of course I protected them."

He took in a breath, looking the woman he had loved right in those big brown eyes. "Do they know about me?"

Emily let out a small chuckle, happily nodding her head to the older man. "Their last name is Hotchner," she nodded. "They're so excited to meet you."

"Are they here? I want to meet them."

"Right in the lobby," she nodded. "Their names are Marcus Matthew and Alisanne Rose. They're four."

Hotch cleared his throat, standing from his seat. "Can we see them?"

Emily smiled, leading the older man out of his own office with a hand on his arm.

"Emily?"

The brown eyed woman turned at the trembling voice, her eyes widening when she saw her friends standing together on the catwalk. "Hi," she breathed, smiling as best she could to the family she had left behind. "Long time no see."

Garcia ran past her boss and took her friend into a bear hug, letting JJ squeeze into the mix once she pressed a big kiss to her friend's cheek. "I missed you so much," she laughed happily, pulling back to see the brunette more clearly. "You look gorgeous!"

"Thanks," Emily grinned, letting the blondes walk to the side so she could see the genius standing before her. "I missed you, Reid."

He slowly nodded, walking into the older woman's arms without a word.

"Princess," the darker man laughed, opening his arms up wide and hugging his friends tight to his chest. "Damn baby girl, look at that long hair you've got."

"Had a long time to grow it," Emily shrugged.

Dave practically shoved Morgan to the side, hearing laughter in his ears as he took the younger woman into a hug. "Bella mia," he grinned, pressing a kiss to each of the agent's cheeks. "Look at how beautiful you are."

The younger woman blushed underneath the older man's gaze, her cheeks hurting from smiling. "Thank you." She quickly cleared her throat and stood as straight as she could, reaching for Hotch's hand. "I promise to come back and talk to you all, but Aaron and I need to go somewhere."

Garcia gave the older woman a wink.

"No!" the mother of two laughed, pointing accusingly to the technical genius before her. "Not for that." She bid a quick goodbye to the teary eyed members of the BAU as she walked with her ex toward the elevators, waiting patiently by his side as the elevator approached their floor.

He glanced over to the smaller figure beside him, his fists clenching as Emily's hand wrapped itself around his upper arm.

"You good?" she asked softly, brown eyes flickering up toward his as the elevator doors opened.

"I want to see them."

Emily held back her smile when she saw the anticipation in his eyes, remembering how Jack used to get so excited when he was ready to open presents or go somewhere new. "They're going to love you," the mother whispered with a smile. "I promise."

Hotch let his eyes connect with hers. "What do they know about me?"

"They know their daddy saves lives, he flies around like a superhero and catches the bad guys, and that he goes by the name King Aaron."

The brunette let out a small chuckle. "I'm a superhero and a king?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Each kid wanted to hear something different," she laughed. "But both know you have another child, and they know all about what we went through; our relationship, why mommy had to move."

"You told them that?"

Emily bit her lip, leading the older man out of the elevator. "I skipped a lot of details, but I never lied to them."

"Mommy?"

Hotch looked up at the small voice, seeing a pair of dark haired children climbing out of an unfamiliar man's lap and walking toward them, their tiny hands clasping one another's.

"Alisanne , Marc , tu te souviens quand maman vous a parlé de papa?" _Alisanne, Marc, do you remember when mommy told you about daddy?_

The brown eyed girl looked up to the older man by his mother's side, tugging on his pant leg until he was down at their level. "Are you our daddy?" she asked, her voice bringing tears to Hotch's eyes.

And he nodded.


	5. Chapter 5

Emily stood behind the older man and watched carefully how he interacted with their kids. She had been so afraid he'd be too mad at her that he wouldn't be able to focus on the twins, but here they were, Marc and Alisanne teaching their daddy their favorite hand games.

Castle wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's waist, his head resting atop hers when it fell against his shoulder. "He's good with them."

The ivory skinned woman nodded. "I'm so happy he is," she gushed, her voice filled with tears. "I knew he would be."

"You said he has another son?"

"Jack," Emily nodded, her eyes wide as she thought of the little boy. "He must be close to thirteen years old by now," she breathed.

Hotch shared a smile with his son, letting the twins both examine the watch her had chosen to wear that day. "So Marc, what's your favorite color?"

"Blue!" the young boy screeched.

"I like red," Alisanne shrugged, her tiny fingers playing with the clasp of her father's watch. "Maman likes purple."

Hotch smiled. "I know."

"You remember mommy?"

The Unit Chief smiled softly to the two children before him, their soft voices hiding the accent he knew they had. "I would never forget your mommy."

Emily felt herself stiffen in her boyfriend's arms, tears running down her ivory features.

"Mommy makes really good ronis."

Hotch frowned gently at his children, watching as they shared a smile with one another. "I don't think your mommy has made me ronis."

"My famous mac and cheese," the brunette woman nodded, a smirk crossing her face as Hotch looked to her over his shoulder. "You've had it many times."

"Macaroni," Hotch laughed, seeing his ex's eyes light up.

Castle watched the interaction with close eyes, his hand rubbing gently along the covered arm of the younger woman by his side.

"Ricky, mommy made you ronis?"

The author immediately broke out into a smile, nodding to the little boy. "Mommy's made me ronis so many times! I can't seem to get enough of them."

Marc's eyes widened. "Me too."

"Daddy!" the little girl called out, trying to get his attention back onto her. "Daddy, mommy already gots us a house."

"She did?"

Emily slowly nodded her head, seeing her ex's brown eyes looking back to her as the kids scrambled over to hug her legs. "I never sold the apartment," she shrugged.

His eyes flickered up to the beautiful brunette's, remembering the night they had had to say goodbye, not allowing themselves to leave Emily's bed until an hour before she had to leave. "Well at least I know where to go to visit them," Hotch said gruffly, gesturing to their shared children.

Emily shakily gave a nod of the head.

"Daddy?"

Hotch gave the little girl a smile and stood, hiking her up on her hip. "How would you like to have dinner with daddy tonight?"

Alisanne's dark eyes widened, shooting over to her mother's as she wrapped her arms tight around the Unit Chief's neck. "Maman!"

"That sounds great," the mother of two smiled. "Marc, does that sound good to you?"

The four year old nodded his head against his mother's leg.

Hotch held out his hand, his left arm firm under his daughter's butt so she'd stay in place, shaking the hand of the man who held his ex in his arms. "Aaron Hotchner."

"Richard Castle," the younger man smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You've heard of me?"

Castle gave a laugh, fingering the material of his girlfriend's jacket. "Probably as much as you've heard of me. I know your teammate Rossi, great writer, I've been on tour with him a few times."

Hotch gestured to the woman they obviously had both fallen for.

"Right," he said slowly. "And Emily's my girlfriend."

Emily bit down hard into her bottom lip, moving her gaze down to her son when both men looked her way.


	6. Chapter 6

Letting the brunette woman strap their daughter into her car seat, Hotch rubbed his fingers across the creases in his forehead. "When do you want them home by?"

Emily gently shook her head, standing up and smoothing out her skirt. "I'll be furnishing the house all night; getting my stuff from storage and bringing it over. Anytime before ten," she nodded. "They go to bed at seven-thirty, eight if they're good."

Hotch frowned. "Do you need help? You can't take it all up into your place by yourself."

The brown eyed woman's brow rose, smirking to the older man. "Did we forget how strong I am, Agent Hotchner?"

Laughing, Hotch shook his head. "No, I remember," he smiled, watching those beautiful chocolate eyes sparkle when they both reflected over their years together.

"Thank you though," Emily smiled gently, turning to wave at her son who was calling to her from the inside of the car. "I have some movers coming to help me with everything, so you don't need to come."

Hotch stared at the beautiful woman he'd fallen in love with. "And you have Castle."

Emily rolled her lips into her mouth, nodding to the older man's words as she kept her eyes on those of her ex. "Yeah," she breathed.

"I'm not mad."

Emily's eyes filled with tears at the look on the Unit Chief's face, and she sucked in a breath before closing the door to the car. "I had to move on," the mother of two shrugged, hating herself for causing the pain she saw trying to hide in Hotch's eyes. "We both did."

"I know," he nodded. Stepping forward, he leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Emily's head, holding her in his arms for just a second longer before letting her go. "I'll see you tonight."

She stepped away from the car and watched her ex drive away, smiling when she saw her twins waving at her from the back of the car.

"Ready?"

Emily turned to see her boyfriend walking up behind her, and she smiled when he pressed a loving kiss just where Hotch had. "Yeah."

...

Jack let his mother kiss his forehead before he walked himself up to his father's apartment door, knocking quickly so he'd be out of sight of his mother and new stepfather. "Dad!"

The older man laughed as he opened up the door, taking his son into a hug and waving to his ex so she knew to drive away. "How are you, buddy?"

The twelve year old shook his head, letting his father feel his forehead for any remains of a fever. "I still feel gross. Do you mind if I lay on the couch?"

"Not at all," he smiled, walking with his son into the living room. "So remember when I said I had a huge surprise for you?"

Jack frowned, covering himself up with the blanket that always lay on the back of his father's couch. "I thought it was that I didn't have to wait until Saturday to come over," he laughed, rifling through his bag for his phone.

Hotch sat himself down on his coffee table, clasping his hands before him. "I have to tell you something."

The almost-teenager's eyes darkened on his father. "Are you dying?"

"What? No," the fifty year old scoffed. "But, do you remember Emily?"

Jack smiled, nodding softly at the name. "I remember her. I haven't seen her in years."

Hotch nodded. He had told his son, only seven years old then, that Emily had to go away and she'd come back when they knew it was safe for her. "Well, I told you that it wasn't safe for her here and I would make sure to bring her back one day."

Jack's eyes widened. "Is Emily back?"

"Emily's back," the father grinned, watching the shock on his son's face turn into the biggest smile he'd ever seen him wear. "But there's something else."

"Is she here? Can I see her?"

Hotch held his hands up, quickly calming down his son. "She's not here, but I have to run to her house later if you want to come with me."

Jack grinned. "I'd love to."

The Unit Chief took a breath, not wanting to spoil the smile on his son's face with the next piece of news. "There's something else I have to tell you."

"Is she ok?"

"Of course," Hotch nodded, scooting closer to the edge of the table. "But um, Emily kind of brought us a present of our own."

Jack's bow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

The brunette man paused, staring straight into his son's eyes that matched his, and he shook his head. "You have two siblings."

Jack's expression grew even more confused, his bewilderment obvious in his eyes. "What?"

"You know Emily and I were in a relationship," he nodded, hating the look on the twelve year old's face. "I loved her very much, I still do. But when she left, she didn't know that she was pregnant."

The almost-teenager pushed his father's hand away. "So I've had two siblings and you've never told me?"

Hotch watched his son push himself farther into the couch. "Jack, I just found out myself."

"What do you mean? She never told you?"

"She couldn't," the older man tried.

Jack's eyes bugged from his head. "You've had two other children and Emily never told you? What kind of a person does that?"

"Jack listen to me," his father stated firmly, holding his hands out to calm the young boy down. "Emily's life was in danger. If she were to call or write and tell anyone about the children, then they would have been in harm's way too."

The twelve year old tried his best to soften his face, giving himself a second to relax. "So, they're twins?"

Hotch smiled. "They are. Marcus and Alisanne."

Jack firmly nodded his head. "I want to meet them."

Hotch gestured behind the couch, keeping his smile in place as two little bodies came sprinting around into the living room.

The twelve year old's eyes widened on the little boy and girl, their dark hair, eyes and perfect ivory skin a complete mix of Emily and his father. "H-Hi," he stuttered, watching as their matching smiles appeared. "I'm Jack."

Alisanne was the first to step forward. "You know, we share a daddy."

"Yeah," Jack breathed. "I heard."

Marc stepped forward and poked his older brother's hand. "You look like me," he giggled.

Hotch felt his heart swell as his oldest son smiled to the little boy.

"I can see," the twelve year old nodded.

"Can you speak French?"

Jack slowly shook his head, realizing that that's where Emily must have been hiding the five years she was away from home. "No, I can't."

"I can!" Alisanne shouted proudly. "Je suis fier d'être votre soeur."

"What does that mean?"

The ebony haired little girl smiled. "I'm proud to be your sister."

...

Emily wiped the sweat from her brow as she set the couch into place, hearing her boyfriend thanking the movers as he ushered them out of the newly furnished apartment. "My God," she sighed, throwing her hair up in a ponytail as she looked around the living room.

Castle sprinted back over to the brunette in the living room, grinning into her hair when she squealed. "How do you like everything?"

"Everything looks perfect," the agent nodded, letting her boyfriend wrap his arms tight around her waist as her eyes scanned the room. "Oh, that lamp doesn't go there."

Castle shook his head, his arms pulling the younger woman back when she tried to leave his arms. "Will you relax just for a minute?"

Emily frowned when she turned in his arms. "It's just a lamp."

"First it's a lamp, and then it'll be a couch cushion, and then you'll find something else to criticize and redo and we'll be at it all night."

The ivory skinned woman grinned, stepping up on her tip toes and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Would you rather be at something else all night?" she whispered seductively, laughing wholeheartedly against her boyfriend's lips when he vigorously nodded his head.

Hearing a knock at the front door, Emily sighed, letting the older man peck her lips. "That's Aaron." She quickly spun on her heels and went to the apartment's door, swinging it open to see her twins both clutching to their father's legs. "Hey there sleepy babies."

Marc yawned into his father's pant leg, his eyes shut tight.

"Oh," she chuckled, leaning down to take her son into her arms. "You want to help me bring them upstairs?"

"Do you mind if Castle does it?" Hotch asked, hiking his sleepy daughter onto his hip. "I need to talk to you."

Emily's brows furrowed but she nodded her head, both she and her ex setting the twins into the author's arms and waiting until he lugged them up the stairs. "What's up?"

Jack turned the corner and looked up to the familiar face in the doorway, his eyes stinging when he saw surprise written all over her face. "Emily?"

The brunette woman's jaw dropped open, ushering the twelve year old into her arms as his tears began to fall.

"I missed you," he cried, hugging the older woman tight as she peppered kisses to his head of hair.

"I missed you too, sweetheart," Emily whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Jack backed away, pausing before leaning forward and kissing his father's ex's cheek. "Thank you for coming back," he hiccupped, feeling his father's hands on his shoulders. "And thank you for them. I love them."

Emily shared a smile with the young boy, feeling her ex's eyes on her as she ushered them inside.


	7. Chapter 7

"Where's daddy?"

Emily wiped her son's chin of the milk that had dribbled from his mouth, and she shook her head. "Daddy is at daddy's house," she smiled, watching as her children dug into their new favorite cereal. They had been there for a week now, Emily having gotten her job back at the Bureau and reserving two spots in the Bureau's daycare.

Alisanne nodded absently as she put her two hands around her cup of milk and sipped.

"Where's Jack?" the little boy questioned.

"Jack lives with your daddy, remember?"

The four year old girl looked up from her breakfast. "Pourquoi ne pouvons- nous pas vivre avec papa?"

Emily swallowed, her eyes dulling at the question, tears starting to sting those brown orbs. _Why can't we live with daddy?_ "What? You don't want to live with me?" she tried to laugh, seeing the grins on both of her children's faces. "Your daddy and I have separate homes, so we don't live together. But you both are spending the weekend with him, remember?"

Marc excitedly nodded his head. "I like daddy!"

"I know you do, sweetheart."

The chocolate eyed little girl leaned forward, her elbows on the table as she tried to reach over to talk to her mother. "I like Jack," she nodded, her gaze firm on the mother of two who was trying not to laugh, "but daddy is my favorite."

Emily smiled, standing from her seat and cleaning up the remainder of the family's breakfast. "I promise not to tell your daddy," the BAU agent grinned. "Now you two go get your shoes on, ok? We have to go." She threw all the bowls and plates into the dishwasher before picking her keys up from the countertop in her kitchen.

Picking up her phone, Emily smiled at the picture of her and her boyfriend that was her lockscreen. Castle had had to head back to New York to finish the book that was due for his publisher by the next weekend, and she had sadly said goodbye to him at her apartment before he flew off once again. She didn't know how they were supposed to work out this long distance thing when he was so dependent on his family back in New York, but at least D.C was closer than France.

"Maman!"

Emily looked up and nodded to the two excited bodies jumping around her living room, and she quickly helped them with their little backpacks before ushering the four year olds out to the car.

A half an hour later, the brunette woman was walking into the BAU for her first day, smiling wide at her friends surrounding her desk with a vase of lilies in her best friend's hands. "You didn't need to do this," she laughed, taking a hug from each and every one of her teammates before taking the flowers from Garcia's hands. "These are gorgeous, thank you."

The bubbly blond pressed a long kiss to her friend's cheek, expertly wiping away the bright pink lipstick she had left on her ivory skin. "And now, everyone to the conference room!"

Emily set the flowers on her desk with a smile, looking up to catch her ex staring at her from the catwalk. She gave him a nod, watching as his eyes sparkled to her before they both made their way to the conference room, his hand on her back as he guided her to her usual spot.

She had barely listened to anything her teammates had to say, her dark eyes connected to Hotch's the entire time, neither willing to look away as they had a secret conversation, just like they used to. The kids were fine, Jack was fine, and they could work together without having it get complicated.

They were going to be just fine.

"Everyone good?" his voice gruffed out of nowhere, jolting Emily back into reality. "Alright, wheels up in twenty."

Emily quickly gathered the papers in the file she had been given and stood from her seat, her breath hitching when she saw Hotch standing directly before. "God," she breathed, giving a laugh when she looked up into his eyes. "Hi."

"Do you have someone to watch the twins?"

The mother of two gave a sense of a smile, nodding to the older man before walking from the conference room. "My mother and I had dinner last night, and she absolutely fell in love with the twins. She told me to keep her on speed dial if we were to head out of state."

Hotch gestured to the glass doors. "Do you mind if we go say goodbye?"

"Of course not. Let me just call my mother."

Morgan watched the pair head toward the elevators, Hotch's hand on the small of the ebony haired woman's back, their smiles small as they walked into the steel cage together. "They're still pretty hot."

JJ rolled her eyes. "They're not together."

"They have two kids," the darker man almost scoffed. "They'll be together."

"Emily has a boyfriend."

Morgan glared at the blond woman sitting on the edge of Emily's desk, fingering the flowers they had gotten for her. "Wanna bet on that?"

Emily smiled wide at the four year olds she saw waving to her from the coloring table, quickly gathering her little girl in her arms as she came running for her. "Hi sweetie."

The brown eyed little girl giggled, both her parents pressing kisses to her cheeks just before they did the same to her brother. "We get to go home, mommy?"

"Oh no, not yet," the ivory skinned woman pouted, letting her daughter play with her necklace. "Daddy and I have to go away for a couple of days. You remember when I told you that we had to leave sometimes?"

Marc and Alisanne both nodded their heads.

Hotch smiled as his son's fingers played with his tie. "Your grandma is gonna come pick you up a little later. Is that ok?"

"I like grand-mère."

The father of three laughed, sharing a smile with his ex as they set their children back on the ground. "Well that's good. Mommy and I have to get going, but we're going to call you as soon as we land, ok?"

Marc's eyes widened. "You going on a plane?"

"A big one just for us and our friends," Hotch nodded, his eyes as wide as his son's. "Do you know a place called Missouri?"

The four year olds frowned at their father.

Hotch glared at his ex over their heads when he heard her chuckle, and he slowly shook his head. "No, huh? Well that's where mommy and I are going, and it won't take us long to get there."

"Are you gonna say goodnight?"

"When has mommy ever missed a goodnight?" the brunette woman scoffed, smiling wide to the two giggling children. "Daddy and I have to go, but we'll call you right when we get there ok? Give mommy kisses."

Hotch watched the beautiful woman share two pecks with her kids before they came up to him to do the same, and he felt his heart melt just a little. "I love you."

"Love you too, daddy," they grinned, waving back to their parents before running back in to get started learning their ABC's.


	8. Chapter 8

Letting the man who had been the most prominent father figure in her life lead her out of the precinct, Emily huffed, rolling her neck from side to side to get it to crack. "My God, I don't think I've ever been so stiff."

Dave laughed, leaning in and pressing a small kiss to the brunette mother's head. "Forget how stressful the job can be?"

"God no," she laughed. "The twins are more stressful that this. But I fell asleep on the plane, remember? I think I screwed up my neck."

The older man smiled at the memory. He had sat across from the two parents on the plane, witnessing Emily slowly falling asleep, her head falling onto her ex's shoulder. Hotch had spent a majority of the flight taking what he thought were stolen glances at the beautiful woman who ad used him as a pillow.

But Dave had seen the whole thing.

"So where are we headed for dinner?" the mother of two asked, hopping into the passenger seat of the car she was sharing with Dave and the pregnant blond on their team. She still couldn't believe JJ was getting ready to have her second child.

"I was thinking Mexican," the younger woman suggested. "Hey, have you called Castle?" Her friends had been texting the writer all day.

Emily held in her sigh. "Yeah, but we could only talk for a little bit. He has a deadline and doesn't need any distractions right now."

JJ hid her grimace at the choice of words. She wanted to win her bet against Morgan, but more-so she wanted her friend to be happy.

Emily gave a small shrug at the silence she was met with. "He gets busy, it happens. I knew what I'd be given if I ended up in a relationship with him."

"I know his work well," the author nodded, smiling gently to the mother of two sitting beside him. "A very good writer your boyfriend is."

Emily smiled. "He is, and it takes time to write like that. Well, it takes a couple of days running on no sleep," the ebony haired woman laughed. "He's the biggest procrastinator I know."

JJ leaned forward in her seat. "Has he ever based a character on you?"

The brown eyed woman laughed loudly at the question, nodding her head as they pulled into the restaurant's parking lot. "His latest series is about a woman on the run, trying to juggle her two kids while falling in love with a very handsome mystery writer."

Dave gave a snort. "Original."

Emily bit her lip, thinking about the older man who had made her life so much easier, and so filled with love.

"Are you coming, Frenchie?"

The brunette rolled her eyes at the older man and let him take her hand to help her from the car.

"Everyone ready?"

The brunette pair stood, wide eyed, watching as their pregnant friend practically bolted for the door of the restaurant before the other SUV even pulled into the parking lot. "I don't remember her being so crazy hungry with Henry," the mother of two laughed.

"Henry's a boy," the author nodded, walking along with the rest of his teammates toward the restaurant. "This time, JJ's pregnant with a baby girl."

Emily smiled, setting her purse down beside her genius friend in the booth. "Watch my purse? I need to run to the bathroom."

"Oh me too!"

Watching the two women wander off to the bathroom, Hotch's head shot up, hearing an aggressive throat clearing from beside him. "What?"

Rossi huffed. "Well what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"With Emily, man," Derek nodded, leaning his elbows on the table and grinning to his superior. "How is it having her back?"

Hotch gave a slow nod of the head, hesitating to give the group of men surrounding him an answer. How was he supposed to feel?

"Hello gentlemen," a young waitress smiled, flipping over her note pad to start taking their orders. "Will anybody else be joining you tonight?"

Reid nodded to the young lady. "Two women; they're in the bathroom."

"Well what can I get you all?"

Once everyone had ordered their drinks and meals, Hotch quickly held up a hand. "One of the women will have the three stuffed enchiladas," he smiled, wanting to make his ex happy when she walked back over to their table. "But there's no chili powder or anything in the sauce, right?"

The young girl shook her head. "We have two sauces; one with the powder and one without."

"Put on the one without, please. She's allergic to chili powder."

Dave smirked in Morgan's direction at the smile their superior was giving the waitress, both men catching the looks the parents would send to one another for the rest of that night.

Three hours later and JJ was rubbing her buttermilk lotion all over her pregnant stomach, her favorite pillow with an ice pack underneath it under her head as she got herself ready for bed. "So what was that at dinner?"

Emily frowned, looking to her friend in the reflection of the hotel's bathroom mirror. "What was what?"

"Those looks between you and our very stoic boss," the blond laughed. "You two barely even looked down at your food."

The mother of two shook her head as she brushed out her pin straight hair away from her face. "We were talking about the twins and their schooling," she answered. "They're headed into kindergarten next year and I'm not sure if I want them to go to a public or private school."

JJ pursed her lips. "Well what does he think?"

"He'd rather them in public school," the brunette nodded, walking back into the room and changing into her pajama shorts. "Castle and I were talking about it too, and he agrees on public school. I never went to one so I don't know how it'll turn out," Emily shrugged. "It's a lot to think about."

Hearing a knock at their door, Emily went to turn the knob and see who was there.

JJ looked up and smiled, seeing their boss practically run into the room with his hand locked onto her friend's.

Emily giggled when her ex sat her down on her hotel bed, putting the cellphone on speaker so they could both hear their children on the other end. "Hi babies!"

"Maman!"

The brunette couple shared a smile. "How are you acting for grandma?"

Marc yawned, letting his sister tug on his hand to try and wake him back up. "I tired, mommy."

"Daddy says we are getting a s'pise!"

Emily sent a questioning glance to the older man, seeing him shake his head before he clicked a button on the phone to get it to light back up. "Well daddy and I have to get to bed, and so do you two, ok? We'll call you once it's morning time."

Alisanne pressed a kiss to her grandmother's cheek as she motioned to get the phone back. "Ne pas avoir peur ce soir, maman."

The brunette woman bit her lip as they hung up the phone, seeing the look her ex was giving her. "I'm glad they're so comfortable with you," she grinned, squeezing the older man's hand.

"What did she say?" he questioned, wanting so much to smile back at the younger woman.

Emily gave a gentle shake of the head. "She just told me to not be scared tonight," the mother almost whispered, hating seeing the look Hotch was giving her. "I had a nightmare the other night and Alisanne came in when she heard me screaming."

Hotch was surprised at the confession and tightened his hold on the younger woman's hand. "You had a nightmare?"

"It doesn't matter that he's dead," she shrugged, forgetting all about her friend still lying just a few feet away. "Ian is always on my mind."

The Unit Chief watched as she got up and walked into the bathroom to get finish getting ready for bed, and he stood. "You tell me if anything happens with her," Hotch told the blond on the other bed, waiting until she gave him a firm nod before he walked back to his own room, his ex weighing on his mind.


	9. Chapter 9

"She woke up about three times," the blond woman whispered to her boss as they got ready to head back home. The team had caught a break at around five in the morning, and their serial killers, a team of three, were found at a slaughterhouse not ten miles from the hotel, and were now being shipped off to jail.

The Unit Chief looked around the precinct to make sure no one could hear them, and he took the pregnant agent to the side. "Nightmares?"

JJ gave a shrug of the shoulders. "I heard her gasp the first time, but the other times I heard her singing some French song to herself to try and fall back to sleep."

"Thank you," Hotch almost smiled. He had been worried about the brunette mother after seeing her nails begin to grow shorter, the agent obviously back on her nervous habit, and he made it his job to make sure the mother of his children felt safe.

Shoving the crime scene pictures into his file, Hotch quickly walked out of the precinct with the rest of his team to get to their cars. He and his ex had spoken about having dinner that night, wanting to spend some quality time with their shared children to learn how to handle their co-parenting skills.

"I love you too."

Hotch turned to see the brunette woman hanging up her cellphone and making her way over to the SUV, hopping into the passenger seat of his car with Reid sitting in the back. "Kids?" he asked with a smile. His twins were now his pride and joy, and everyone could see it.

Emily sent back a nervous smile before looking out the car's windshield. "No actually, it was Richard."

The genius in the backseat widened his eyes at the confession, and he kept himself quiet as his eyes flickered back and forth between the two in the front seats.

"Oh, what was he calling about?"

Emily gave a shrug. "Nothing really. He finished his book early and wanted to come with Alexis to visit, but I told him he'd have to come around Saturday."

The older man felt himself freeze. Did she tell her boyfriend no because they already had a date set? "We could have rescheduled," the Unit Chief offered, shrugging when he knew the beautiful woman was looking his way. "We could have dinner with the twins any night."

"No, we set a date to learn how we can parent together. That's more important than a date with my boyfriend."

Reid watched as the Unit Chief shared a long stare with his ex before they parked on the tarmac, and he quickly got out of the car and made his way up the steps of the jet.

"Whoa Spence," the pregnant woman laughed. "What's the rush?"

The genius shook his head, avoiding eye contact with the brunette pair that made their way onto the plane.

Sending her mother a quick text, Emily sat herself down beside the blond on the team and sighed. "Alisanne isn't feeling well and won't stop crying for her daddy."

"Does Hotch know?"

Emily quickly nodded her head, glancing back to her ex sitting with Rossi at the back table to play a round of Texas Hold 'Em. "He talked to her this morning and asked if she still wanted tonight to happen, and she almost started crying at the idea that her daddy didn't want to see her."

JJ smiled, reaching for her friend's hand and rubbing her fingers over the older woman's. "You're a great mother," she smiled. She knew that's what the brunette woman needed to hear, and she was going to make her feel comfortable back at home, knowing how hard it must be to come back into a life that had tried its best to destroy her.

The brunette bit her lip, hearing her ex's laughter from behind her as she smiled. "Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

Helping her son with the bowtie her boyfriend had gotten him as a joke, Emily gave him a smile. "Don't you look handsome?" Marc always wanted to wear the purple accessory with every outfit he'd put on, and tonight Emily let him.

"I look nice for daddy," the four year old grinned, leading his mother into the kitchen so he could get a juicebox.

Emily smiled, waving back at her daughter who sit in the living room. "You sure do, baby."

"I do too!"

"Of course you do," the mother of two cooed to her daughter, running her hand over her head of curls before going to finish setting the dining room table. She had made sure to call her ex the moment she had gotten home, knowing just how excited her children were to see their daddy. They realized it was their time to play dress up, their grandma having bought them a few new outfits to make up for missing their first four birthdays.

Alisanne looked up from her coloring book, fingering the pink bow her mother had put in her hair, the satin material matching the new frilly dress she had chosen to wear. "Maman? Is Jack coming?"

Emily looked over to the little girl and shook her head. "No sweetie, Jack is having dinner with his own mommy."

The four year old gave her mother a frown. "Jack has a different mommy? You're not Jack's mommy?"

"No sweetie, I'm just your mommy."

Alisanne scampered over to the kitchen, climbing up her mother's delicately dressed body until she was seated on her hip. "And daddy is both our daddy's?"

Emily pressed a small kiss to her daughter's head. "You and Marc and Jack all share a daddy, and that makes Jack your brother," she nodded, staring deep into those chocolate eyes she had given both her children. "But you and Jack have different mommies. You remember him talking about Haley?"

The four year old boy raised his hand in the air, expertly seating himself in his chair at the table. "I do!"

"Well Haley is Jack's mommy."

Alisanne gently nodded her head. "Are you and daddy married?"

Emily tried for a smile. "No sweetiepie."

"Are you and Rickie gonna get married?"

"I don't know," the brunette woman shrugged, setting her daughter down on the ground when she hear a knock at the door. "You ready to see daddy?"

"Yeah!"

Emily walked with the two toward the door and made sure to look out the peephole before opening it up, smiling wide at the man standing in her doorway. "Well look what we have here."

Hotch grinned from ear to ear, kneeling on the ground to hand the presents to his children. "A bear for you," he laughed, seeing the grin on his daughter's face. "And here we go, a bear for you."

The twins hugged their matching blue bears tight, Alisanne's with a red tie and Marc's with a green one, before running into their father's arms. "Thank you, daddy!"

The Unit Chief stood once his kids ran back into the apartment, his eyes running down the beautiful brunette woman's body.

He had to force his jaw not to drop.

Emily's body was covered in a one of a kind little black dress, her dark hair wavy and her ears dressed to perfection with tiny diamonds.

"You look gorgeous," he nodded, stepping into the home and pressing a hesitant kiss to his ex's cheek.

The mother of two smiled, her hand running down the older man's arm as she spun in her expensive heels, closing the door behind them. "Thank you. You look very handsome," she smiled, leading her ex into the dining room where her children were already getting into their seats. "Ready for dinner?"

Hotch paused by the edge of the foyer and watched the three unfold their napkins, a vibration from his side catching his attention.

Emily's cellphone was ringing, Castle's name popping up on the screen.

Sharing a smile with the younger woman, he slowly stepped to his right and pressed the decline button, making his way into the kitchen and opening the bottle of wine he had brought for the brunette.


	11. Chapter 11

"I don't wanna sleep, mommy."

Emily shared a smile with her ex as she picked up her son from the couch, the sleepy boy making sure his bowtie was still in place before he snuggled into his mother's chest. The family had been together for three hours that night, playing a bunch of board games the twins loved after finishing up dinner and having a little piece of cake for dessert.

Neither Marc nor Alisanne wanted their daddy to leave.

"Ali knows it's time for bed," the brunette woman cooed, pointing toward her daughter so Marc would see her cuddling into her father's hold. "She's really sleepy. Aren't you really sleepy?"

"No," the four year old yawned.

Emily laughed, kissing her son's dark hair as she led Hotch up the stairs. "I'm sure you'll feel differently in a minute."

"No mommy!"

"Hey now," the Unit Chief's hard voice came, the older man looking pointedly to his son. "Don't get loud like that, alright? Your mommy is looking out for you. Apologize, do you hear me?"

Marc frowned, practically smacking his head onto his mother's shoulder and giving a groan.

Hearing a small 'thank you' being muffled by her shoulder, Emily mouthed the same words to her ex, leading him into the twins' room so he could help her change them into their pajamas.

"Thank you for inviting me tonight," the brunette man grinned, slipping off his daughter's expensive dress and tugging her purple nightgown over her head. "I had a great time."

"These two sure know how to throw a party, huh?" the mother of two laughed, thinking back to her kids pouring the wine for them and spilling all over the dining room table, and doing their best to serve the dinner that Emily had prepared.

Hotch laughed, settling his daughter in her bed and pulling her princess comforter up around her shoulders. "It was the best party I've been to in ages."

"You're just saying that."

The brunette pair shared a wide eyed look before breaking out into laughter at their son's words. "I think it's time for bed," Emily chuckled, kissing the four year old's head before making her way out of the room.

Hotch kissed both of their heads and smiled, watching as both twins rolled over onto their right sides with their teddy bears tucked in beside them. "Daddy loves you," he whispered.

Emily smiled to the older man before shutting the door, walking with him back downstairs to put the rest of the dishes away. "You really made their night," she beamed, her hand touching his before picking up the plates at the table. "Do you know how many times I had to fix Alisanne's bow before she thought it was perfect?"

"As many times as you had to retie that bowtie our son has?"

The chocolate eyed woman snorted, setting the plates in her hands in the dishwasher. "Exactly."

Hotch watched the way his ex swayed around the kitchen, putting everything back where it was supposed to be before she turned back to him, her dark hair flying over her shoulder as she smiled to him. "Any wine left?"

"The wine barely lasted ten seconds," the father of three laughed, holding up the empty bottle. He knew his ex's taste for expensive wine and that's exactly what he had gotten her.

The brunette woman frowned, turning to the fridge and taking out two sodas. "Good for you?"

"Perfect."

Emily sat with the older man on the couch closest to the floor-to-ceiling windows, kicking off the heels that had been hurting her feet for hours and resting against the cushions. "So, the whole school thing."

Hotch nodded. "I still think public school is the best bet. Jack is in public school, I went to public school."

"I went to private," the older woman pointed out.

"And how did you like it?"

The brunette woman pursed her lips. "The girls were bitchy and the boys were bad, but the education couldn't be beat."

Hotch rested back against the arm of the couch, looking squarely at the woman beside him. "Would you want them around the kids you went to school with?"

"I practically described every high school setting," the brown eyed woman scoffed. "That doesn't mean anything."

"All the kids in my school were nice."

Emily let out a laugh. "That's because you were Mr. Popular," the younger woman accused with a smile.

The older man gave a grin. "That's true."

"I'd be willing to look at public schools if you look at a couple of private."

"Deal," the Unit Chief nodded, clinking is can with the younger woman's before taking a drink.

Frowning at a familiar buzzing sound, Emily glanced around her. "Do you hear that?"

"I don't hear anything."

Emily shook her head, standing from the couch and following the sound until she saw her phone buzzing against the wood of her end table. "Hello?"

"Emily!"

"Sweetie, hi," she grinned, hearing her boyfriend breathing hard on the other end of the phone. "How are you? How's your night?"

The author huffed, looking up to the windows of his girlfriend's home. "I've been outside your apartment for the past couple of hours."

Emily's jaw dropped. "What? Why?"

"Look out the window!"

The mother of two rushed past her ex who sat on the couch, his dark eyes watching her every move, and she looked out of her beautifully late windows that overlooked the city to see her boyfriend staring up to her, his hand full of flowers waving up to her. "Why didn't you call me before?"

"I did," the older man laughed humorlessly. "About a dozen times! I thought you weren't home for a while but then I noticed your lights on."

"I'm so sorry," she sighed, looking at the reflection of her ex in the window and feeling her heart clench. "We were having dinner."

Castle nodded, making his way toward the apartment building's glass doors. "Well can you tell the doorman to let me up?"

"Of course." Emily quickly dialed downstairs and told her building's security to let her boyfriend in, her eyes darting over to the man sitting on her couch. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know he was coming."

Hotch smiled, standing from the couch and letting her ex lead him over to the apartment door. "Don't worry about it."

The brunette woman's lashes fluttered as Hotch leaned in and pressed a small kiss to her cheek. "I'll see you at work," she nodded, biting her lip as she opened up the door.

"Tell them I love them."

Emily slowly nodded her head. "Of course."


	12. Chapter 12

"He sat outside for almost four hours," the mother of two sighed, leaning back in her desk chair and brushing her hair from her eyes. "He wanted to surprise me because he had two days off and I didn't hear even one of his calls."

JJ sighed, lifting her pregnant body from her friend's desk and setting her feet to the floor. "He must really care for you," she chuckled.

"Of course he does. He loves me."

"More life adores you," the Italian man in the group scoffed disgustedly. "He waited outside your apartment for three hours without knowing if you were out or even on a case. It's like he fucking worships you."

Emily frowned at the older man's gag. "Thank you?"

Dave shook his head. "I'm just wondering how empty his life will be when, if it happens, you two break up. You seem to be his whole world."

The brunette woman's brows knit together, her shoulders shrugging. "There's always the possibility of a breakup, but he has his work and he has Alexis. E held out with the NYPD every once in a while."

"Didn't he get shot?"

Emily pursed her lips. "More than a couple of times, yes."

Morgan rolled his eyes at he conversation going on around him. The author from New York wasn't right for her and they all knew it.

Glancing over to the phone that was vibrating on her desk, Emily bit her lip.

"Is that Castle?"

"No," she laughed, ignoring the call. "My mother. She's been extremely clingy after I came back. It's different."

JJ nodded, knowing how the ambassador had been before Emily had been forced to go undercover.

Once everyone around the mother of two had quieted down, JJ leaned into her. "Hey, so how have you been sleeping?"

Emily held in her sigh, smiling at the younger woman. "I know Aaron asked you to keep an eye on me, especially in cases, but I'm ok."

The blond hardened her eyes on her friend. "You had three nightmares the other night. Three."

"That was a rare occurrence," the older woman shrugged off. "I'm fine, I promise you."

"How many times have you woken up since our last case?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "A couple of times," she admitted, standing from her desk chair. She knew she wouldn't get away with telling her friend she'd slept perfectly fine, so she decided to be honest. "Are we done?"

JJ's eyes filled. "I just want to make sure you're ok."

"I will be," she smiled, leaving her teammates behind as she walked up to her boss' office.

Sitting down on Morgan's desk, the pregnant blond opened up her newest file. "Your money is mine."

Emily knocked on Hotch's door, waiting to hear his voice before she let herself in. "Hey."

The older man looked up, smiling to the brunette who say herself in one of his visitor's chairs. "Hi."

"So Alisanne came down with the flu," the mother of two sighed, sitting back in her chair. "I know you were supposed to take them tonight but I think she should just stay at home."

Hotch's eyes narrowed on the younger woman across from him. "Wasn't she just sick?"

"She was," the ambassador's daughter nodded. "Her immune system sucks. I'm supposed to bring her in for a new vaccination tomorrow."

"What's the problem?" He could see something hiding in those big brown eyes.

Emily sighed. "I have a meeting with the director that I really can't miss."

Hotch quickly shook his head. "I can take her."

The brunette mother gave a shaky smile. "I knew you would want to. But Richard already offered."

Hotch's jaw clenched. "Well," he shrugged, pausing before looking back up to his ex, "we can go together."

"You'd want to go with him?"

"She's my daughter," the Unit Chief nodded firmly. "I'll go."


	13. Chapter 13

"No, he didn't want to come," the father of three sighed, pulling into the doctor's office's parking lot, seeing his ex's boyfriend's expensive car sitting in the very first parking spot. "I left him with my brother."

Emily covered her ear with her hand as she tried to block out the other agents around her. "He doesn't even know Sean, Aaron. Do you know how cranky he'll be if Sean forgets even one thing in his routine?"

Hotch grunted, throwing his car in park and hopping out of the driver's seat. "We can't coddle him, Emily."

"There's a difference between coddling and nurturing."

"And obviously we need to have a discussion on it." Shaking his head, Hotch made his way toward the office. "Everything is fine, and we'll talk about it later, alright? I'm heading into Ali's doctor's appointment now."

Emily refrained from rolling her big brown eyes, seeing the director of the FBI ushering all the agents back in from their break. "Ok, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye." Hotch walked into the office shoving his phone in his suit jacket pocket, looking around the waiting room to try and find his sick little girl sitting in one of the chairs.

Walking up to the front desk, the Unit Chief set his hands on the counter, making sure the nurses would notice him. "Hi, my name is Aaron Hotchner. I'm looking for my daughter Alisanne, she has an appointment for a vaccination."

"Oh sir, she's already inside. Room four."

Hotch nodded his thank you to the younger woman, walking back toward the pediatric rooms and peeking his head in to see if his daughter was there.

"Sir," the doctor piped up, looking away from his patient, "family only."

Alisanne's head popped up from Castle's shoulder and she cried, her hands reaching out for the familiar man. "Daddy!"

Hotch didn't even glance toward the author standing beside the nurse's bed and swept the four year old into his arms. "How are you feeling, AliBear?" He ran his fingers through her curly hair and kissed her forehead. "Your mommy told me you felt bad."

Alisanne pouted, holding on tight to her father's shoulder. "I got sick, papa."

Castle stood back, watching the doctor start to clean the young girl's arm. "She got sick in the car on the way here."

Hotch smiled into his daughter's hair, proud of his little girl for getting back at the author for him without even realizing it.

"Alright Alisanne, it's time for your shot."

The doe eyed girl cowered into her father's chest, crying into the lapels of his jacket. "Daddy no!"

"Remember Doctor Brodeur?" Castle nodded to the young girl. "Remember how she would sing that song to make the shots feel all better? You want to sing that with me?"

Alisanne snuggled deeper into her father before nodding her small head.

Hotch listened to his daughter whispering the lyrics along with Castle as the doctor plunged the needle into her tiny arm, the little girl in his hold not even flinching at the prick of the needle. Waiting until the bandaid was set to her skin, the father of three hiked her up on his hip and hugged her tight. "All better?"

"All better," she nodded, kissing her father's cheek before lying her head on his shoulder. "Can we go home? Je veux dormer."

Nodding, the Unit Chief smiled to the doctor beside him. "We're all set?"

"All set. Just bring in your son in about a week for his, alright?"

Hotch walked out of the office with his daughter tight in his arms, doing his best to ignore the younger man chasing after them.

"Hotchner!"

The Unit Chief rolled his eyes before turning around. "Let me put her in the car, will you?"

Castle stood silently by the SUV, watching as his girlfriend's ex strapped the four year old into her car seat. "You forgot her bear," he nodded, offering the toy to the older man. "It's her favorite."

"I know," the older man chuckled. "I got it for her."

"You know, Emily didn't say anything about where Alisanne was to go after her appointment."

Hotch hardened his gaze on the younger man, shutting the car door once he knew his daughter was all set in her seat. "Well she's my daughter, and her brother is in my care as well, so I'm taking her home."

Castle frowned. "I don't know who you think you are but I-"

"I'm the twins' father," Hotch growled. "Who do you think you are?"

The author stepped forward. "I'm the man who has been in their lives for years," he scoffed. "Where were you? Were you there when Marc broke his arm? Were you picking up the twins and their mother from a restaurant when they thought they were being followed? Or were you here in the U.S all protected in your home with your family?"

"They're my family!" Hotch bellowed, stepping forward and glaring hard at the author who had the audacity to question him and his parenting. "How in the hell was it my fault that she kept them from me? How was it my fault I knew nothing about them before now? Tell me how it's my fault she didn't give me a single call to tell me anything about them!"

"She was on the run!"

Hotch's skin turned a beat red as his anger boiled. "And who the fuck are you telling me how to parent my own children?"

"I was the one there for them," he hissed. "I'm the one in Emily's life, not you."

The Unit Chief turned, yanking open his car door and pointing an accusing finger at the younger man. "We'll see about that."


	14. Chapter 14

Emily shoved her spare key into her ex's lock, throwing the door open so she could get herself inside. Her boyfriend had called her ranting about the older man, recounting the entire evening to her about what had happened at the doctor's office.

Looking up from his files, the Unit Chief saw his ex storming into the apartment. "Hey," he stated slowly, frowning at the younger woman. "Did we say something about meeting that I forgot about?"

"You got into a public fight with Richard at the appointment?"

Hotch sighed, standing from his seat. "Emily, it wasn't like that."

"You fought in front of Alisanne," the mother of two accused, throwing her purse to the chair along with her phone. "Why would you do that in front of our daughter? What do you think runs through her mind when you behave like that?"

"When I behave like that? Emily, I was not the only one there."

Emily's eyes hardened. "That's your excuse?"

Hotch took his ex by the arm and led her to the other side of the living room, looking to her with stern eyes. "The kids are nappking."

"Don't bullshit me, Aaron," she seethed, poking her finger into the older man's chest. "You made a scene in front of our daughter and that is completely out of line."

"You've never lost it in front of the kids?"

"Not once!"

Hotch huffed, running his hand over his sweating forehead. "Ok, can we not fight? This isn't the time for this, nor is it that big of a deal."

Emily kept her patience in check, her dark eyes staring hard up into her ex's. "You questioned his love for me," she stated quietly. "'We'll see about that'? What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he's not the only male figure in their life anymore. I'm their father Emily, he's not."

"So what?" she questioned, throwing her hands in the air. "He has been in their lives since their first birthday, alright? He's been like a father to them and that's something you're going to have to deal with."

Hotch fumed, taking a dangerous step toward the younger woman. "He is NOT their father!"

"And are you?"

The older man practically growled at the woman before him, watching as her chocolate eyes turned black as she stared at him. "What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Emily scoffed. "Aaron, you all of a sudden come into our lives, and trust me when I say that I'm so grateful that we get to be home and you get to know your kids, but you cannot just come in and act like you've been here forever, and say who can and can't be with the twins! He's been their father before you were, do you get that? They love him, and you can't just write him out like he's nothing."

"He's nothing to me."

Seeing the anger boiling in the older man, Emily gulped, knowing that she couldn't back down from the man she once loved. "Well he's something to me," she nodded, her eyes softening. "I love him, and so do your kids. If you can't try for me, try for them."

Hotch ground his teeth.

"Look," the younger woman's voice almost whispered, "I'm sorry if you don't like him for the fact that he was in the twins' lives before you, or maybe just for the fact that he's with me at all." She shrugged, the mother of two looking into those softening eyes of the older man. "I'm sorry, but we both had to move on. You get that, don't you?"

The Unit Chief watched the mother of his children's lips part, knowing her heart was beating in her ears as she spoke to him.

"I am sorry, Aaron. Please believe me."

He watched her wipe her hand over her quivering lips before walking away from him, his eyes connected with hers before she walked out the door and out of his home.


	15. Chapter 15

Clinking his glass against the younger woman's, Castle watched as her eyes downcast to the group, her pink lips kissing the glass as she took a sip. "Are you going to talk at all tonight?"

Emily licked the wine from her lips, nodding absently along with the older man's words. "It's raining."

"Em," he sighed, setting down his drink. "What is it?"

"You were in the wrong too, you know."

The author shook his head, running his fingers roughly through his hair. "How many times do I have to apologize for it? I'm sorry Emily, you know that."

Emily pursed her lips. "You've told me enough."

"So what do you want me to do?"

The mother of two shrugged, her foot tapping against the older man's as she twirled the wine in the expensive glass. "How about apologizing to Aaron?"

Quickly sitting up, Castle nodded his head. "I already called him, but it went to voicemail."

Emily just shook her head.

"Emily, what do I have to do? I know getting into a fight with him was wrong, but I can't go back and change it. I can't go back and prevent it from happening, so we all have to deal with the aftermath. I'm trying to fix it Em, I swear."

The brunette woman flicked the tip of her tongue over two front teeth. "I know that I would have done the same thing if Aaron had a girlfriend and she was in my kids' lives for so long," she nodded, almost whispering the words to themselves. "It's like you're fighting for your parental rights against someone who had nothing to do with bringing them into the world. It's kind of surreal," Emily sighed. "I think that's what I'm disappointed in."

"That you would have acted the same way?" he frowned.

Emily gently shook her head, her eyes meeting those of the older man. "That I would have done the same thing and found nothing wrong with it, but I think it's wrong when you and Aaron do it. It's hypocritical, and it's unfair."

Castle got himself up from his chair and pulled his girlfriend from hers, taking her glass from her and letting her sit in his lap. "Everyone makes mistakes," he almost cooed, running his hand down her back. "We all get angry. We're all human."

"Stop being a writer," she smiled, staring into his eyes as she leaned into him.

Castle shook his head. "I'm being a boyfriend." He leaned in, pressing a long kiss to the younger woman's lips, his hand reaching up to cup her cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too."

He ignored the slight pain he saw in her eyes, taking it as a remainder from the day they had had, and wrapped his arms around her waist. "So what should it be tonight? Movie? Maybe a night out?"

Emily let out a breath, hearing the rain against her windows. "I just want to lay down," the exhausted woman sighed, her head leaning against the writer's. "Will you hold me?"

Breathing out the smoke of his expensive cigar, Dave shook his head. "It's cold out here, Aaron."

"You're not allowed inside."

The Italian turned his head and glared, watching the younger man help his daughter put the card in the correct deck. "This is ridiculous."

Looking up from the tricks her father was teaching her, the four year old brunette shook her head, her tiny finger pointing to the older man sitting on the other side of the window. "No smoke! Cela est très mauvais!"

"What's bad is talking back to adults," he gruffed, turning himself away from the family inside. "I came over to talk, Aaron."

"So talk," the father of three laughed, sharing a smile with his daughter.

"Grownup talk, Aaron."

Hotch smiled to his little girl, happy that she was feeling better, and let her place the cards in the palms of his hands. "You ready to get to bed, AlieBear?"

She slowly nodded her head, stifling her yawn with the back of her hand. "Yes daddy."

"Why don't you go get Marc from the TV and go and get ready for bed?"

Alisanne nodded, kissing her father's cheek before running off to find her brother.

Leaning against the windowsill, the father of three watched as his best friend huffed out a puff of smoke, the author fingering at his goatee. "What did you want to talk about?"

"What's going on with Emily?"

The younger man sighed. "She was mad about the fight, but we're having lunch tomorrow with the kids and we're going to talk about it."

Dave looked to the Unit Chief inside the house. "And what about you and her? How's that going?"

"She's in love," he said quietly, his eyes looking to those of the older man, "and it's not with me."


	16. Chapter 16

"She'll have a bacon and egg dish, no hash browns and a side of toast with strawberry jelly."

Emily kept her laughter hidden as she shared a smile with the older man. "So you were the one who ordered for me the other night," she laughed, letting her son craw. up into her lap. "You knew exactly what I wanted then, too."

Hotch shrugged, letting his daughter take his hand and trace her fingers along the callouses of his palm. "We've known each other for a long time."

"We have," she nodded, biting her lip. "So, how were they last night?"

"Angels."

Emily narrowed her eyes.

"Ok," the older man laughed, "a handful."

Emily let out a laugh, feeling her son's hands tugging at her necklace. "That's more like it," she grinned, taking Marc's hands in hers and giving him a funny face to try and deter him from her expensive jewelry.

Alisanne looked up to her father. "Papa, do I get food?"

The father of three nodded his head, his hand open wide so the four year old could play with his fingers. "We just ordered your food, remember?"

Emily looked over to the two brunette on the other bench and nodded. "Remember, baby? You're getting oatmeal."

"With blueberries?" she gasped, her dark eyes widening as she looked to her mother.

"A whole bunch of blueberries," the mother of two grinned.

Marc nodded vigorously, turning himself around in his mother's lap and looking to his sister. "We gonna get the same."

"Nuh uh!"

Emily shook her head. "Calm down," she chastised, holding her son tight in her arms. "Ali, you're having oatmeal with blueberries and Marc is getting himself oatmeal with bananas and strawberries."

Hotch put a playful frown on his face. "I should have gotten that."

The four year old boy tried to reach across the table. "I can share with you, daddy!"

"Me too!"

Hotch shared a smile with the woman across from him before nodding his head. "That would be perfect," he grinned, pressing a kiss to Alisanne's head and Marc's outstretched hands. "You two are so generous."

Alisanne kissed her father's chin. "You're welcome."

The brunette woman laughed out loud, picking up her son and setting her down beside her. "I'm gonna head off to the bathroom. Can you watch them alone for a few minutes?"

"Of course."

The waitress bumped into the mother of two as she walked over to another table, and she quickly took her by the arm. "Can I just say, you have the most beautiful family."

Emily burst into a grin, a small giggle escaping her. "Thank you," she smiled. "And there's even one missing. It gets cuter when the eldest is with us."

"I bet."

Hotch thanked the waiter who brought their food and set the right bowls of oatmeal in front of his children, making sure they both had their napkins in their laps before they took the spoons in their hands. "Ready?"

"Gotta say grace!"

"Why don't we wait for mommy?"

Marc groaned, his head slamming back against the booth's back.

"Hey," he chastised, his eyes staring hard into those of his son. "You don't do that."

Emily made her way back to the booth, frowning at her pouting son who sat with his arm crossed. "What's going on here?"

Alisanne looked to her mother with a spoonful of oatmeal between her lips. "Mmm!"

"I don't know if you're calling for me or if you just love your breakfast," the mother of two grinned, "but I think we should all just regroup."

Hotch watched his ex pull their son's arms apart before getting his hand to wrap around the spoon, wiping the pout of his face with a quick shake of her finger. "Time to say grace."

The family made their way to the car thirty minutes later, the feeling of Emily's hand in his etched in his mind as they sat side by side in the front of the car. "So you guys are going to spend a little time with your grandma today."

Emily turned in the passenger seat, shaking the small feet of both of her kids. "Your daddy and I have to go to work for a little bit."

Alisanne frowned. "Why mommy? It's not a school day."

The brunette woman smiled at the slight slur she heard come from her daughter's mouth, having a feeling she had an oat from her breakfast between a few of her teeth, and she bit her lip. "Daddy and I have a meeting with our team, but your grandma has the whole day planned out for you."

The couple dropped off their kids before driving to the BAU, Hotch's hand brushing against the younger woman's as they walked to the elevator. "You think they'll figure it out?"

"No," she sighed, fixing her earrings in the reflection of the metal doors. "They're four, Aaron. They're not going to figure it out."

Hotch sighed, bumping his elbow against the younger woman's. "Thank you for including me."

Emily looked up to the older man and hooked her pinky with his, giving his hand a tiny shake before the elevator doors opened. "Of course," she smiled.


	17. Chapter 17

"It is so fun!" the four year old screamed, jumping into her mother's arms after cleaning off her hands.

Marc excitedly nodded his head. "So fun!"

Hotch and Emily shared a smile as the twins ran off to play with their new aunts and uncles. They had turned the entire BAU bullpen into a party room for their kids, making sure they got to celebrate their first, second, third and fourth birthdays with their father before their fifth was to come.

The twins were going to be more hyper than they ever had been before, and that's why they were being sent to their grandparents for the night.

Emily stood up straight, letting her boyfriend kiss her lips before he ran over to play with her kids. "He's ridiculous," she laughed, watching the author throw her son into the air, the biggest smile she had ever seen on the little boy's face looking to the man she had fallen in love with.

"You're lucky to have him."

The brunette turned to her ex and nodded, seeing him try his best to give her a smile. "Thank you," she said softly. "How was their sleepover the other night?"

Hotch shook his head, following the younger woman to her desk so they could sit down. "Alisanne felt better, and she obviously is better now. I was just happy she didn't get sick after the doctor."

"And Marc?"

"Was very quiet," the father nodded, seeing Jack skip around with his younger brother over by the drinks. "I can tell who's going to be the loud one in the teen years."

Emily laughed, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder as she leaned back in her chair. "I knew it from the moment they were born. Marc barely cried when I delivered him, and barely made a sound throughout the night, but Alisanne was the one who would cry bloody murder if I didn't swaddle her correctly or if I brushed her hair wrong."

Hotch smiled along with the beautiful woman beside him, looking to the little girl who jumped onto Jack's back. "Our little diva."

Biting her lip, the mother's dark eyes traced along every angle of her ex's face, her arms crossing over her chest to try and block herself off from the older man so he couldn't see the confusion sweeping over her. "I think it's a French thing," she stated seriously, waiting until the laughing man looked back to her before she pursed her lips and nodded her head. "We can blame it on France."

"Maybe it's a Prentiss thing."

Her jaw dropped, the ambassador's daughter looking to her ex with wide eyes. "Excuse you!"

The older man gave a loud laugh at the look on the brunette's face, clapping his hands together at the joy he got from seeing his ex in such shock. "Well we can't blame France if one twin turned out that way and the other didn't."

Emily glared. "Then how can we blame me?"

"They're half you and half me," the Unit Chief shrugged, sitting back in his chair and flexing his muscles behind his head. "Looks like Marcus got all of me. He's calm, cool and collected."

Hearing the satisfied sigh from the older man, Emily couldn't hold back the laughter that wanted to escape. "Yeah fucking right," she snorted, leaning forward and slapping Hotch on his shoulder.

Looking up from the four year old's playing with the toys he had gotten them, Castle saw his girlfriend laughing along with something the BAU's Unit Chief had to say, her smile wider than maybe he'd ever seen it before.

Why couldn't she smile that way with him?


	18. Chapter 18

"No Richard please!" the crying woman begged, following her boyfriend to her door. "Richard just wait!"

The author paused. "Emily, I-"

"You turn around right now," Emily ordered, her eyes red and puffy as she waited for the man she loved to face her. "What are you doing? Why are you doing this?" she sobbed.

Castle set his bags down and turned on his heel. "Emily, don't cry."

Emily scoffed. "What do you want me to do? Pop a bottle of champagne?" She picked self consciously at the hem of her suit jacket and shook her head. "Why are you breaking up with me?"

He walked forward and hugged the crying woman tight to his chest, his heart breaking as her arms quickly wrapped around his waist. "You know that I love you."

"Do you?" Emily questioned, pulling back just enough to look up into the older man's eyes. "If you loved me, why would you break up with me?"

"That's why I'm breaking up with you; because I love you."

The brunette mother's head shook as she tried to get the information straight in her head, and both looked toward the door when they heard the knob turning.

"Hey Em, I got those candies you said that the twins liked," came a smiling voice from the doorway, the grin on Hotch's face disappearing when he saw the two in the foyer. "What's going on?"

Emily huffed, pulling herself from her boyfriend's arms and wiping the back of her hand under her nose. "Aaron, now's not a good time."

Castle shook his head. "No, you should stay," he nodded, his hand reaching out to the older man when he saw the father of the twins get ready to turn back out the door. "This concerns you too."

The brown eyed woman slowly shook her head, grasping the author's hand as tears poured down her cheeks. "Please don't do this," she whispered.

"How long have we been together, Em?"

Emily frowned, not knowing where the sadly smiling man was going. "Almost four years."

Castle caressed the younger woman's hand with his fingers. "And how many of those years have we been happy?"

"All of them," the mother of two nodded.

Hotch stood idly by, his hands clenching around the treats he had gotten for his children as he watched the couple's interaction.

"I have loved you ever since I saw you that first time in France," the writer breathed, "and I've been so lucky to be able to call you my girlfriend. But I can't do that anymore." He hated to see the sadness in the younger woman's eyes and he tightened his hold on her hands. "I love you so much, but I know I'm not the one for you."

Emily's jaw dropped, her eyes wide as she felt him slipping away from her. "Why not?"

The author heard how broken Emily sounded, and he did his best not to break down along with the younger woman. "I'm not the one you're meant to be with, Emily. We both know this."

Hotch's stance stiffened.

"I see the way you two are with each other," Castle stated, gesturing between the two dark haired parents. "You have kids together, and that will always draw you back to one another. But the way he makes you smile?" the author laughed humorlessly, looking down to the ebony haired woman. "I've never seen you look so happy. Not with me, anyway."

Emily's lips quivered as she cried. "Richard," she whispered. "I love you."

"I will always love you, and that's why I'm letting myself out of this relationship. I'm letting you be with the man you really love."

Emily's wide, puffy eyes flickered over to those of her boss.

Castle smiled. "I know he makes you happy, and I know I make you happy. But who can you see yourself marrying? Who can you see yourself having another kid with?"

"Richard, I love you."

"I know you do," he nodded. "And we can still talk, and we can be friends. You can call me and talk to me whenever you need to or want to, ok? I love you."

She covered her gaping mouth as the older man walked out the door, and her eyes sealed themselves shut and she cried as Hotch stepped up and took her in his arms.

"Don't cry," Hotch cooed, running his hand along her back as he hugged her tight. "It's going to be ok."

Emily's fingers clenched the Unit Chief's suit jacket. "I'm sorry you had to hear that," she hiccupped. "I'm so sorry."

The father of three pulled back slightly, kissing his ex's forehead. "You never have to be sorry."

"I get what he was saying," she tried, shrugging slightly as Hotch's eyes softened. "I know what he meant. I've missed being with you."

Hotch slowly nodded his head, hearing their children laughing up in their room. "I've missed being with you too."

"But I love him," Emily said. "I love him so much, and I do love you, I will always love you, but before we could even think of going further than we have in the past month, I have to get over this."

The older man smiled the best he could. "I would wait forever for you."

Emily's lips pursed, the mother of two stepping up on her tiptoes so she could press a small kiss to her cheek. "Thank you."

"How about we clean ourselves up and get up to our kids, huh?" he laughed, wanting to put a smile back on his ex's face. "I can hear their excitement from down here."

"Yeah," Emily breathed, her arm wrapping around his waist and his around her shoulder as they made their way toward her kitchen. "Sounds like a plan."


End file.
